ROCKLAND – A recovery team using chain saws cut through the foot-thick ice atop an abandoned limestone quarry Tuesday, and then a diver slipped beneath the surface and quickly found the body of a local woman whose Chevy Blazer had plunged into the water five days earlier.

Llynne Haskins, 46, had been taking her cat to a veterinarian last Thursday morning when she apparently lost control of her blue sport utility vehicle on Old County Road. It rolled over a stone wall and plummeted 60 feet before crashing through the ice in the city-owned quarry.

Her body, still inside the SUV, was recovered from water about 35 feet deep about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. It was unclear whether the cat was recovered.

Last week, authorities had said they thought the SUV was in 105 feet of water and that they would not try to recover the body until spring.

But Haskins’ sons, Justin Dennison, 28, and Stanley Dennison, 30, said they were determined to retrieve their mother’s body – with or without permission from the city – for a proper burial.

“I don’t want the car. I want her,” said Haskins’ younger brother, James Makie, 39, earlier Tuesday.

At first, the city turned down a recovery effort by a diver who had entered the quarry to take a measurement of the water’s depth where the vehicle went through the ice.

Diver Greg Canders of Bangor used a line and weight to determine the depth, Stanley Dennison said. “We just want people to know his efforts. What nobody would do, he did in 20 minutes,” Dennison said.

Some 40 people stood at the edge of the quarry for nearly five hours in the bitter cold Tuesday while divers from Sea Ventures Inc. of Port Clyde and Art Henry’s Crane Service of Thomaston conducted the recovery operation.

The cost of the recovery is expected to be about $10,000, which will be paid by the family, Makie said. An accident reconstructionist has been hired as well, he said.

Haskins’ aunt, Nancy Beal of Rockland, said the family is looking into whether Haskins’ motor vehicle insurance will cover any recovery costs. The family is also planning to have an autopsy done, which they will pay for.

Divers began Tuesday’s operation around 10 a.m. in 23-degree air temperature as 24 mph winds blew steady. With chain saws, the team cut a 10-foot by 10-foot opening in the ice before a diver went down.

David Sinclair, a retired Maine State Police lieutenant who was commander of Troop D in Thomaston from 1989 to 1995, slipped into the icy water and found the SUV wedged in an area near where the depth gradually drops off.

After a crane pulled the vehicle from the water, dive team members covered the vehicle with a tarp once it was lowered onto the top of the ice. Haskins’ body was removed, and the SUV was lifted to the top of Old County Road, where a flatbed tow truck was waiting.

The decision last week to leave Haskins’ body until spring prompted considerable reaction in the area. “The city of Rockland and the state’s trying to save a dollar,” Makie said. “If that was the mayor or a city councilor, they would have been out there that day.”

During Tuesday’s lengthy recovery, family members, friends, city officials and reporters watched from precarious spots around the quarry. More than once City Manager Tom Hall, at the scene, voiced concern about the potential for another accident.

A City Council member at the scene, Brian Harden, said the state needs to begin looking at safety issues around the quarry. “I’ve lived near these quarries all my life, and I’ve always thought they should be filled,” he said.

Hall said he had received a voice mail message Tuesday morning from Damariscotta lawyer Edward Dardis, who informed Hall of the intended recovery. Dardis represents Haskins’ family. When Hall attempted to contact Dardis, he was in court.

Hall said he gave permission for access to the quarry at 3 p.m. Monday, but that “I was absolutely clear that I didn’t have the authority” to authorize a recovery, he said.

“The city isn’t actively involved or condoning … the operation here,” Hall said later Tuesday. After the recovery, Hall said he was “pleased the family has closure.”

Burpee Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home was at the scene. A funeral is planned for 11 a.m. Saturday.

The family plans a motorcade from the funeral home, past the spot where Haskins’ vehicle rolled over the barrier wall.